British Columbia Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside says she’s appointed veteran labour mediator Vince Ready to assist in collective agreement negotiations with the union representing 911 emergency operators.

Whiteside says she appointed Ready as a “special mediator” under the province’s labour relations code as 911 call takers represented by CUPE Local 8911 and E-Comm try to come to a new collective agreement.

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Whiteside says Ready’s work began today, and will last up to 10 days.

She says if a settlement can’t be reached in that time, he can issue “binding recommendations on all outstanding issues.”

Whiteside says she’s thankful to Ready to taking on the job, which had been requested by both parties to come to a deal.

The union, which represents more than 700 emergency communications workers in B.C., issued a 72-hour strike notice after months of unsuccessful talks with E-Comm.